The Crown Season 6 behind the scenes is where the real magic lives. Netflix’s acclaimed drama has captivated global audiences with its fact-based portrayal of the British Royal Family, and Season 6 steps into the achingly dramatic final chapter of Princess Diana’s story. Her marriage to Prince Charles in tatters. Her tragic end in 1997 feeling raw even now. Sadness and inevitability haunt every frame.
What She Said’s Anne Brodie sat down with the creative team responsible for bringing it all to life: Costume Designers Amy Roberts and Sidonie Roberts, Set Decorator Alison Harvey, Hair and Makeup Designer Cate Hall, and Movement Coach Polly Bennett.
The Crown Season 6 Behind the Scenes: Diana’s Body Language
Movement Coach Polly Bennett offers some of the most fascinating insights. She explains that Diana’s famous habit of lowering her head and looking up through her lashes was not simply an affectation. It was learned behaviour rooted in childhood, a girl who always needed to be seen by a family that didn’t fully engage with her. “If you always need something, you’re turning yourself towards people rather than allowing people to come to you,” Bennett explains. Isn’t it striking, then, that the girl who learned to seek attention became the most photographed person in the world?
Bennett also contrasts Diana’s physicality with the Queen’s. The Queen has no excess movement. She is tightly wound and controlled, and that control is deliberate. “We trust the idea of control,” Bennett notes. “If she was waving and saying hi to everyone, we wouldn’t trust her.”
On the costume side, Elizabeth Debe built an actual wardrobe for the Diana character, sourcing pieces and adding to them over time, so each morning the team could ask: what’s the scene, what would she wear, and why? Diana’s outfits were always intentional. Her red dress arriving on holiday in the south of France? On purpose.
For sets, the production sourced fabrics from British company Marvi, had elaborate damasks woven in Italy, and used modern carpet printing techniques to recreate the heavy silks and carved wood of the period.
Hair and Makeup Designer Cate Hall reflects on Diana as “a real bombshell look, manufactured and put together,” a sharp contrast to the no-makeup effortless aesthetic that took over in the years after her death.
Watch the full interview below.
The Final Season of The Crown begins Netflix Nov. 16
